Subject: Timberline Sparrow/species splits
Date: Apr 14 23:46:12 1994
From: Alvaro Patricio Jaramillo - jaramill at sfu.ca


I agree completely with Dennis's comments regarding the ultimate search
for "truth" in science and that if there are 2 Brewer's Sparrows, 3 Meadow-
larks, 2 Warbling Vireos...then that's the way it goes, even though it
may be difficult or impossible to identify them in the field.
However, I feel that once species are split someone will figure out a way
to identify them, given enough time. Many of these identifications will
likely be on chip calls or obscure marks that no one has noticed before.
Remember that until 1950 no one was convinced that the Long-billed Dowitcher
was a species, and they certainly would have laughed in your face if you
had told the ornithologists of the day that you could identify them in the
field.

Al Jaramillo
jaramill at sfu.ca
Vancouver, B.C.